When a child is seriously hurt, physically or sexually assaulted, most police officers say what they really want is to stop time, wrap the child in an embrace and prevent further harm.

But law enforcement officers are happy to let the Children’s Advocacy Center do that job.

“They are a tremendous help to us,” said Taunton Detective Lynne Pina. “They are able to take the victims, put their arms around them and shelter them through the process.

“They make sure the victims are cared for.”

For Pina, a 25-year officer and a veteran investigator, that makes all the difference in the world.

Investigators in Taunton and Fall River are some of the biggest advocates for the CAC and the work they do. In both departments, uniformed officers have been trained to consider the CAC an integral part of any investigation into reports of child abuse, Taunton and Fall River officers say.

“We’ve been dealing with the CAC since it opened six years ago,” said Detective Capt. Jeff Cardoza. “We see ourselves in partnership with them. It works that we are all part of a team — us, the CAC and the district attorney, especially Silvia Rudman.

“We realize there are tremendous advantages to working with partners.”

Rudman is a prosecutor who heads up the special victims unit for District Attorney Sam Sutter. Her team prosecutes all cases of rape, sexual assault and child abuse.

Rudman and her prosecutors are available around the clock to work with the police as soon as officers receive a report of possible child abuse, Cardoza said.

“Our detectives and our officers are trained to get the minimal facts we need to move the case forward,” Cardoza said. “We don’t want to further traumatize the child and we don’t want to weaken the case.”

Fall River Detective Brian Cordeiro began investigating child sexual abuse cases in 2006, before the CAC was established.

“This is a really good system now, a lot better than what we did before,” he said. “We all understand our role.”

Training is the key, both Cardoza and Pina said. And it has been easy to convince officers to participate in the training offered, said Capt. John Reardon of the Taunton Police.

“A lot of our officers have kids, so they can really get involved in an issue like this,” Reardon said. “Any time there is training offered, we take advantage of it.”

In Fall River, police Chief Daniel Racine has insisted on training for all the department personnel, Cardoza said.

“We are a humble agency,” Cardoza explained. “We don’t think we know everything. We definitely see the benefit of working with partners.

“We want to present a great case to Silvia and her prosecutors. It is clear that working with the CAC helps us do that.”